Apple AirTags stalking led to ruin and murders, lawsuit says — Dozens join lawsuit alleging Apple AirTags are stalkers’ “weapon of choice.”::Dozens join lawsuit alleging Apple AirTags are stalkers’ “weapon of choice.”

  • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 year ago

    So because they’re cheap and work well it’s apples fault (or samsung or trakr) that people are illegally using them? This type of equipment has existed for decades. Why is it suddenly a companies fault for the illegal activities a minority of users are doing with them? I really hope all these types of cases get tossed.

    • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      They’ve existed for a decade, but the tracking networks have been small, so the trackers were pretty unreliable. AirTags are accurate AF because iOS users update aggressively and Apple rolled the tracking software into the OS updates.

      All in all, people only care because these things actually work well now.

      No one is suing Tile because they suck ass if they’re not close to your phone.

    • andallthat@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      But it is exactly because they’re cheap, widely available and work well. Before AirTags, I’m not sure where you could acquire the technology you mention, but probably through some specialized channel requiring at least some tech knowledge. Also purchasing from that channel would presumably look at least a tiny bit suspect, because you were purchasing spying equipment, not something that is marketed as a way not to lose your luggage

      And I get it, I have never tried AirTags but they do sound great for not losing your luggage. It’s just that the illicit way to use them is so evident that it’s like those “face massage” vibrators

      • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        Tile worked well enough for tracking. It wasn’t perfect but I used them before AirTags and never had a problem finding my items.

        • OhNoMoreLemmy@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Tile is great for finding items next to your phone.

          Airtags let you find items next to other people’s phones.

          Tile only works for tracking people if you slip the item in someone’s pocket and then explicitly follow them. That’s just normal stalking with an extra step.

          • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            1 year ago

            Tile is more than capable of tracking items away from your phone. They work in about the same way AirTags do.

            Edit: A word.

            • OhNoMoreLemmy@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              Except that no one has the tile app, so it doesn’t work with any reliability. On the other hand, there’s an iPhone almost everywhere.

              • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                1 year ago

                Enough people have it that I’ve been able to track my wife when her phone was dead, so I wouldn’t call it useless by a long way.

                Less useful, certainly. But if I was able to track my wife on an hours long trip with one, a stalker isn’t going to have any issues doing the same.

      • fatalError@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        Idk how you got from a tool that helps track your belongings to a tool who’s sole purpose is injuring and killing. Pretty far away from each other

        • JoBo@feddit.uk
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          1 year ago

          They were replying to someone. If you read what that someone wrote, you’ll have all the context you need.